Open Access http://jept.ir Publish Free doi 10.15171/jept.2015.05 Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma Short Communication Volume 2, Issue 1, 2016, p. 25-28 Standardized patients versus simulated patients in medical education: are they the same or different Amin Beigzadeh1, Bahareh Bahmanbijari2, Elham Sharifpoor3, Masoumeh Rahimi4* 1Research Center for Health Services Management, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 2Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 3Neurosciences Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran 4Department of Medical Education, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Received: 1 June 2015 Abstract Accepted: 7 July 2015 In order to equip medical students with all the necessary skills in dealing with patients to Published online: 15 September 2015 provide optimal treatment, the need for the use of real patients in educational settings has *Corresponding author: become prominent. But all the required skills cannot be practiced on real patients due to Masoumeh Rahimi , Department of patients’ safety and well-being. Thus, the use of standardized patients (SPs) or simulated Medical Education, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. patients (SiPs) as a substitute for real patients signifies their importance in simulation- Email: [email protected] based medical education. One question raised in regard to using SPs or SiPs in order to Competing interests: None. enhance medical students’ tangible and intangible skills in a safe controlled environment Funding information: None. is whether these two terminologies are the same or different? Various studies use these Citation: Beigzadeh A, Bahmanbijari B, terms interchangeably and do not consider a difference between them. Based on our Sharifpoor E, Rahimi M. Standardized patients versus simulated patients in literature review, there seems to be differences between these two modalities. We also medical education: are they the same try to highlight the advantages of these modalities in clinical encounters. or different. Journal of Emergency Keywords: Standardized patient; Simulated patient; Education, Medical Practice and Trauma 2016; 2(1): 25-28. doi: 10.15171/jept.2015.05. erformance-based education can be described as an and nuclear power industry (4). But its pivotal role in educational method to foster clinical skills as well the field of medical education is significantly prominent as clinical knowledge of medical students. Studies as doing critical procedural skills and physical examina- Pshow that performance-based methods are effective for tions are risky to be conducted on real patients. Although, teaching a whole gamut of knowledge, clinical skills, and there are a continuum of teaching strategies that health- attitudes (1,2). There is a tendency towards performance- care educators can adopt to teach medical students, but based teaching and assessment in medical education (3) simulation is one of the best teaching strategies that has and it has been highlighted by General Medical Council a significant impact on healthcare education to enhance (GMC) and the Association of American Medical Schools. clinical and professional skills and knowledge in a safe This can be achieved by early clinical practice which is environment. But it should be contended that because of necessary in both undergraduate and postgraduate medi- the changes in the health care system in terms of reduced cal education. In this regard, real patients as a resource inpatient beds, reduced length of hospital stay, and com- for teaching a wide range of clinical communication and munity based practice as well as concerns about validity examination are inevitably precious. In respond to such and reliability of real patients in assessment, there has necessity, it is important to provide more opportunities been a focus away from using real patients in the training for medical students to practice in a safe and controlled of medical students (5). Thus, it was in 1960s that Barrows environment to gain mastery over essential clinical skills and Abrahamson (6) came up with the concept of stan- and knowledge prior to entry in a real life clinical setting. dardized patients (SPs) and simulated patients (SiPs) as an Thus, the use of simulation has become widespread in alternative approach to using real patients in the training many health professions. Simulation, an old phenomenon, of medical students. So far, there seems to be confusion is ubiquitous in almost every fields of human endeavor. It in the usage of these two terms among the research com- is commonplace in fields such as military, aviation, space, munity in the reporting and description of performance- © 2015 The Author(s). Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits Jept unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Beigzadeh et al based simulation in terms of the terminology adopted. by Churchouse and McCafferty (13) at Edith Cowan Uni- Thus, the purpose of this article is to investigate the litera- versity, Perth, Western Australia. Based on their investi- ture to see whether a difference exists between these two gation, a simulated patient, directed by a facilitator, is a terminologies. In addition, the advantages of these two person who is given a history to portray and acts a role in modalities are highlighted. the clinical encounter with a medical student. Conversely, a standardized patient is not an actor but a person who Definition of standardized patients (SPs) and simulated shows his or her personal, physical, social, and psycholog- patients (SiPs) ical history. So far, there seems to be differences between When conducting the literature review in order to find an the terms standardized patients and simulated patients. exact definition for the terms standardized patients and Collins and Harden (10) and Barrows (11) express that the simulated patients and distinguishing the differences be- term ‘standardized patient’ is a broader term which covers tween them, we were faced by a paucity of clear definitions both real and simulated patients and it does not indicate in this perspective. Evidence shows that there are many whether the patient being dealt with or discussed is a real papers that use the terms standardized patients and also or simulated one. The differences between a standardized a number that discuss simulated patients and do not con- patient and a simulated patient are shown in Table 1. sider a difference between them (7-9). This causes confu- sion among the healthcare educationists, researchers, and Advantages of using standardized patients (SPs) and those in charge of developing simulations. Based on our simulated patients (SiPs) review the following definitions seem to differentiate be- One of the areas of concern is the clinical encounter be- tween these two terms: tween the patients and the medical students in which both Collins and Harden (10) define the term simulated pa- tangible skills (procedural skills, physical examination) tients as ordinary people who have received training to and intangible skills (communication skills, professional portray an amalgam of different clinical scenarios includ- behavior, and interpersonal relationship) can be fostered. ing history taking, physical examination, and communi- Typically, medical students are trained for this encounter cation skills. A simulated patient cannot be recognized by meeting real patients. However, for a couple of reasons and discerned by an expert if appropriately trained. Bar- such as the changes in the healthcare system and the va- rows (11) also provides the same definition for a simu- lidity and reliability of real patients in assessment, the use lated patient as a lay person (a normal person) who has of real patients in educational settings has diminished in been instructed carefully to be an actual patient in terms recent years. Other areas of attention can be related to the of presenting the signs and symptoms. On the other hand, paucity of good educational cases. In addition, shortened the term standardized patients is defined as a lay person clinical periods for the students at each department play with or without his/her own medical problems (history a role here. We should not forget that ethically we can- and physical exam findings) or a real patient who has been not train medical students on real patients when ethical coached to depict a specific medical case or play the role considerations are not taken into account (14). Thus, the of a patient. In this case, real problems or those of other simulated patients or standardized patients can be trained patients can be considered as the learning content (12). It for a variety of clinical cases to respond more consistently seems that when we use the term simulated patients, we in the training and examination of medical students than are more implicitly directing the participant towards the real patients. On the other hand, these modalities are role of a patient or an acting role or a kind of role play. more standardized for use in different centers and over a Based on the literature review by authors, we were not vast area internationally. When simulated patients